Apparatus for making ceramic tile



Nov. 15, 1955 .E. A. CAMPBELL APPARATUS FOR MAKING CERAMIC TILE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 18. 1952 IN VEN TOR. gm Q Nov. 15, 1955 E. A. CAMPBELL APPARATUS FOR MAKING CERAMIC TILE Filed Sept. 18, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

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APPARATUS FOR MAKING CERAMIC TILE Filed Sept. 18, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 L5 INVENTOR.

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United States Patent APPARATUS FOR MAKING CERAMIC TILE Elmer A. Campbell, St. Louis, Mo., assignor to Laclede- Christy Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Application September 18, 1952, Serial No. 310,222 4 Claims. (Cl. 25-45) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in apparatus for making ceramic tile, more particularly refractory tile with spiral square cells for use in checkerwork of industrial furnaces.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide apparatus for making flue openings in checker tile of spiral shape to provide a wiping or self-cleaning action of products of combustion passing through the checkerwork.

It is a further object of the invention to provide equipment for mounting on conventional tile presses which shall form the spiral square hole in the checker tile without any appreciable wear on the forming dies.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide a forming die for mounting in press spindles by antifriction mounting to render them self-feeding in forming the spiral square hole as the clay material is moved past the die.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent from a consideration of the accompanying drawings, constituting a part hereof, in which like reference characters designate like parts, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view, partially in section and partially diagrammatic, of apparatus for forming checker tile;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of a portion of the die holder illustrating a repressing lever assembly arrangement, taken along the line 22, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. ,1 illustrating the position of the press and die after the finished checker tile has been ejected from the press;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view similar to Fig. 2, taken along the line 4-4, Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a front elevational view partially in cross section of a spiral punch die;

Fig. 6 is a cross section partially in elevation taken along the line 66, Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is an end elevational view taken along the line 7--7, Fig. 5; and

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the checker tile made by the equipment shown in the foregoing figures of the drawmg.

With reference to the several figures of the drawing, the numeral 1 generally designates a press having table guides 2 for engaging runners 3 of a brick press table generally designated by the numeral 4. In Figure l the brick press table is in the raised position and in Fig. 3 it is in its lower position. A mold box 5 is mounted on table 4 and is provided with pin guides 6 that engage lift rods 7, the rods passing through a cross bar 8 at the top of the press frames 1. The mold box 5 is provided with an ejector 9 having a rod 10 extending through the table 4 and which is adapted to engage a landing plate 11 at the bottom of the press, so that when the table 4 is in its lowermost position as shown in Fig. 3, the tile, designated by the numeral 12, is ejected from the mold box.

The tile is in the shape as shown in Figure 8 of the drawing, and is provided with a plurality of spiral square holes 13. These holes are made by revolving arbor generally designated by the numeral 14, there being a pair of such arbors mounted on an arbor plate 15. The arbor plate is provided with guide pins 16 and a stripper plate 17 is disposed below the arbor plate 15 as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. A plurality of repressing pins 18 are connected by screw threads to the stripper plate 17 as shown at 19, the repressing pins 18 being mounted in pin guides 20.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the repressing pins 18 are adapted to abut against stops 21 that are actuated by a lever 22 having a link connection 23 to a hand lever 24 which is termed the repressing lever, and which is pivotally connected at 25 to the cross member 8. Fig. 2 shows the stop 21 in the disengaged position and Fig. 4 in the engaged position. Latches 26 are provided for the stripper plate 17 and a top pressure plate 27 for the mold box 5 is attached to the stripper plate 17.

As shown in the enlarged view of Fig. 5, the arbors are mounted on stud shafts or spindles 28 having screw threaded ends 29 mounted in the arbor plate 15 to be secured against rotation. Spindle 28 has a straight cylindrical shank 30 for receiving the revolving arbors 14 which are constructed in two sections, as shown in Fig. 5, being separated by a clearance space at 31. The arbors are mounted on journal bearings 32, 33, 34 and 35 to be freely rotatable on the spindle 28, and a ball thrust bearing 36 is provided against the shoulder of the spindle end to take the vertical thrust. The revolving arbors are assembled in the manner shown in Fig. 5 and are held in place by bearing 35 having a flange engaged by a washer 37 held by a screw nut 38. The revolving arbors are provided with a pilot pin 39 for leading the arbors into the clay body when the table 4 is raised with the clay material in the mold box in the manner shown in Fig. 1.

The operation of the above described arbor press is briefly as follows. The clay, which is designated by the reference numeral 40 in Fig. 1 of the drawing, is charged in the mold box 5 on top of the ejector plate 9. The cubical content of extruded clay that would be inserted into the mold box 5 does not conform to the shape or size of the mold. For this reason the clay is repressed by plate 27. This plate is held in fixed position by latching repressing pins 18 by latches 26 to lock plates 27 and 17 with mold box 5 to act as a unit. The press table is then raised bringing the clay body into engagement with the revolving arbors 14 which, because of their helical shape, are caused to revolve as they pass through the clay, and in so revolving they form a spiral square hole as shown in Fig. 8. When the press table 4 is lowered as shown in Fig. 3, the revolving arbors rotate in the opposite direction and clear the clay body which, when the ejector rod 10 strikes the plate 11, is ejected from the mold box as shown in Fig. 3 and removed from the press.

By means of the antifriction mount of the revolving arbors, checker tile with spiral square flow openings may be produced with smooth flue walls and without any tearing or breakage of the clay material. The punching operation may be carried on at the rate at which the press can be raised and lowered, limited only by the speed of charging the clay material in the mold box and removing the finished checker tile from the ejector plate.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, in the lowered position of the mold box as in Fig. 3, the stripper plate is in its lowered position with the repressing pins extending upward through the repressing pin guides 20 and when the table 4 is in the lowered position the stripper plate 17 drops, as shown in Fig. 3.

Although one embodiment of the invention has been herein illustrated and described, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in the details of construction without departing from the principles herein set forth.

I claim:

1. 'Ina press for molding'clay bodies with helical square holes, a table mounted for vertical movement on guides ina frame, said table having a mold box mounted thereon, ari arbor plate mounted on the top of the' pres's and a stripper plate having a mold platen attached thereto, an arbor mo'unted on the arbor plate having a stationary spindle and having a helical shaped arbor journaled on said spindle, sadi arbor being freely revolvable to pass through the clay material in the mold box when the press table isbrought to its raised position to form the helical square opening, and to revolve in the opposite direction when the press table is lowered.

2. In a press for molding clay bodies with helical square holes, a table mounted'for vertical movement on guides in a frame, said table having a mold box mounted thereon, an arbor platemounted on the top of the press and a stripper plate having a mold platen attached thereto, an arbor mounted on the arbor plate having a stationary spindle and having a helical shaped arbor journaled on said spindle, said arbor being freely revolvable to pass through the clay material in the mold box when the press table is brought to its raised position to form the helical square opening, and to revolve in the opposite direction when the press table is lowered, said stripper plate being provided with repressing pins and pin stops mounted for engaging and disengaging said pins.

3. In a press for molding checker tile of substantially "the shape'oftherrurneral 8-having helical square openings therein, a plurality of arbors for punching the openings in the clay body mounted with their axes in parallel relation, a plurality of stationary spindles for said arbors, and journal bearings in said arbors for revolving on said spindles, said arbors having a'ntifriction thrust bearings at the top thereof to be freely revolvable on said spindles and said arbors being of helical fiat surface contour of a desired pitch to form openings in the tile of a helical square shape when the arbors are pressed into the clay material.

4. In a press for mounting clay bodies, a mold table movable vertically in a plurality of guides, said table having a mold box mounted thereon, said mold box having rods depending therefrom for engaging a stripper plate for lifting the clay body from the mold box, and an arbor plate having a plurality of helical shaped arbors journaled to be revolvable thereon and having a top mold plate adapted to reta in'the clay material in the mold when the revolving arbors pass through the charge in the mold.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

